Each year, when we receive the crime statistics from the Estevan Police Service or the crime severity index data from Statistics Canada, it makes for an interesting read.
It should also cause us to reflect on how safe we feel in our community.
And we should feel safe here.
The figures for the EPS in 2021 show a slight reduction in call volumes, from 8,947 in 2020 to 8,648 last year – a reduction of 299 calls and infractions, or nearly one a day. The total for 2021 was still above the five-year average by about 300 – again, about one a day.
It should be noted that calls for service is a broad number. It’s not just Criminal Code violations and drug busts; it can be traffic tickets, collisions, welfare checks, domestic disturbances, reports of scams, false alarms, noise complaints and other incidents. And, of course, the police will receive nuisance calls throughout the year.
But at 8,600-plus calls over 365 days, it shows the local police remained fairly busy, even though pandemic-related restrictions were fairly onerous for the first five months of the year.
Estevan has done fairly well on the crime severity index the past few years, most notably in 2017, when it reached its lowest point since the number was first tracked in 1998. But with a homicide charge on last year’s crime numbers, and the impact of such a charge on the rating for a community of this size, expect the city to be relatively high when the full report is released later this year.
A lower number of infractions for the EPS shouldn’t mean we should feel safer, just like a higher CSI value means we aren’t as safe.
They can be good for those looking for reinforcement of their beliefs. If you aren’t worried about crime, or you think the number of officers with the EPS should be trimmed, then you’ll point to lower call volumes. If you’re nervous about crime, then a higher CSI rating will likely grab your attention.
But of greatest importance is how safe we feel in our own community.
Do you feel comfortable walking in Estevan when it’s dark outside? Are you looking over your shoulder when you’re walking?
Our CSI rating might be higher than Toronto or Vancouver, but again, that reflects the impact one or two incidents can have on a smaller community using Stats Canada’s weighted system.
Where would you feel safer walking on your own at 10 p.m.? Estevan or Toronto?
Yes, the days of us 小蓝视频 able to leave the door to our homes and our garages unlocked are over. And we should be locking our vehicle doors at night, too. That’s to protect ourselves and our property.
For many of us, it’s hard to fathom there was a time when we didn’t lock our doors at night, especially in rural communities.
We’re blessed to have the police officers that are currently in Estevan. The majority of them are hard-working, dedicated and well-trained individuals who have the best interests of the community in mind. Some of them have been here for a long time, and have raised their families here.
They work in one of the most risky, demanding and essential professions on the planet.
And if we didn’t have them, we wouldn’t feel as safe as we should.
That’s not just the Estevan Police Service; that also goes for the RCMP members in the Estevan detachment and in other southeast communities.
Yes, there are troublesome officers who give police officers a bad name, but they are in the minority. A vast minority.
You won’t hear many calls to defund the police coming from southeast Saskatchewan.
And it’s part of the reason we should feel safe here.
